In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of BFE. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?” This play is assumed to take place in Arizona (maybe Phoenix or Tucson) because of the mention of the UFO at the beginning of the play. This was a popular phenomenon in Arizona during the time this play; the 1990’s. The narrator, our main character, is a 14-year-old Asian-American girl named Panny that goes to Brimsdale High School. Other key characters include her mother, Isabel, who doesn’t invest much time in her relationship with her daughter, Lefty (Panny’s uncle and Isabel’s brother), Nancy (Panny’s friend), Hugo (Panny’s “love interest”), Evvie (Lefty’s love interest), Hae-yoon (Panny’s pen pal from Asia), Jack/The General (Isabel’s love interests), and finally “The Man” who is never named but is Panny’s abductor. The playwright calls the setting of the play to be “BFE” which we later are informed stands for “Bum Fuck Egypt,” or basically the middle of nowhere. The play moves through a long series of events in a short amount of time and the playwright switches her focus on different characters throughout the play, but always coming back to Panny.
What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? In my opinion, the intrusion is when Panny agrees to meet Hugo in person because this sets up the scene for when The Man abducts her and we finally find out what truly happens to Panny, which she mentions in her foreword at the beginning of the play in her short monologue.
Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? This is the day that Panny sets the story straight about what happened to her by The Man. In the monologue at the beginning of the play, she mentions how there are many theories of what happened to her created by others around her town, but this is the truth.
State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.) We want to know what exactly happened to Panny and we find out by the end of the play that she was abducted by The Man and beaten almost to death. We also want to know the explanation for why Panny, Isabel, and Lefty all live together and we find out that Isabel is a bit insane and Lefty felt he needed to stay to take care of Panny. We want to know what happens between Hugo and Panny and we find out when they finally meet, Hugo laughs and leaves her but comes around at the end of the play. Lastly, we want to know what happens between Lefty and Evvie. They seem to love each other but Lefty cannot bring himself to leave Panny because he feels a duty to take care of her and her mother (his sister), Isabel because she is crazy.
Use Panny, Isabelle, or Lefty to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Trifles the wants of Ms. Hale change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles for one of the three designated characters.. I chose to analyze Lefty’s struggles throughout the play. First, he has a struggle with himself because he wants to move in with Evvie, but he knows he cannot leave Panny with her crazy mother. This also is connected with his struggle with Evvie who quickly shoots down the idea of having Panny move in with them. She explains to Lefty that she has already been through raising children, and all the stress it brings, that she just didn’t want to have to do it again. He also struggles with Isabel, who is his crazy sister, because she doesn’t want anything to change. She just wants Lefty to stay with her and Panny forever, but Lefty wants to go and have a relationship with Evvie and start living for himself. It is hard to find an obvious struggle for Lefty against society because it is never explicitly illustrated throughout the play, though we can assume he faces some sort of underlying discrimination because he is Asian-American and part of a minority group in America. We do not really see any struggles against God or gods or natural forces.
The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. In your estimation what is the most theatrical moment in BFE and what happens during that moment which is so important to the outcome of the play? I think one of the most theatrical moments is towards the end of the play when we finally find out what happened to Panny, after she lies and finally comes to terms with what happened to her. We find out she was beaten almost to death. I would also say some of the scenes where we see how crazy Isabel is are pretty dramatic and explain Panny’s home life a little more. She imagines things a lot and never goes outside. She will take in strangers (such as the pizza boy) and seduce them. Lastly, the scene where Evvie and Lefty decide to move in together is another dramatic scene because we can just imagine how Panny’s life would change if she no longer had her uncle to help her and protect her. Eventually, the conversation between Evvie and Lefty stops at a standstill when Evvie mentions she doesn’t want Panny to move in with Lefty because she doesn’t want to go through raising another kid.
Provide at least three examples of images in BFE. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”) One image would be Lefty’s miniatures. This is the object that can represent his romance with Evvie because it was a conversation starter and transformed their relationship from friendship to a more romantic one. Another image would be the gauze and sunglasses Panny places over her eyes at the end of the play to illustrate how she went through with her eye surgery because she felt so ugly after her abduction. Going along with this, the scar on her body that reads “UGLY” could be another image that shows the abuse and disgusting discrimination Panny endured through the play. She feels so ugly and that she needs to go through with this absurd surgery at the young age of only 14.
Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in BFE. Some themes include abduction, discrimination, self-confidence (or rather, lack thereof), abuse, family, and the struggle of inner versus outer beauty.
Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with BFE? Is family redefined in BFE and if so, in what ways? This family is certainly unusual. Lefty is Panny’s uncle (her mother’s brother), though he thinks of himself as her father and cares and supports her as such. Panny’s mother is too crazy to be a stable mother. She even forgets her own daughter’s birthday and believes a proper gift for a 14-year-old girl is plastic surgery. Panny and Lefty have a close relationship, but he gets side-tracked with Evvie, his love interest, and his neglect in attention to Panny is one factor that leads her to be abducted. Isabel is a terrible mother, but we gather information to assume there’s some kind of mental issue to explain why she cannot properly care for her daughter. In today’s society, I do not know if crazy mothers are very common but I think there are many families where the closest thing children have to a father figure are their uncles. I do not find this aspect as unusual, but fairly realistic.
This play is assumed to take place in Arizona (maybe Phoenix or Tucson) because of the mention of the UFO at the beginning of the play. This was a popular phenomenon in Arizona during the time this play; the 1990’s. The narrator, our main character, is a 14-year-old Asian-American girl named Panny that goes to Brimsdale High School. Other key characters include her mother, Isabel, who doesn’t invest much time in her relationship with her daughter, Lefty (Panny’s uncle and Isabel’s brother), Nancy (Panny’s friend), Hugo (Panny’s “love interest”), Evvie (Lefty’s love interest), Hae-yoon (Panny’s pen pal from Asia), Jack/The General (Isabel’s love interests), and finally “The Man” who is never named but is Panny’s abductor. The playwright calls the setting of the play to be “BFE” which we later are informed stands for “Bum Fuck Egypt,” or basically the middle of nowhere. The play moves through a long series of events in a short amount of time and the playwright switches her focus on different characters throughout the play, but always coming back to Panny.
What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
In my opinion, the intrusion is when Panny agrees to meet Hugo in person because this sets up the scene for when The Man abducts her and we finally find out what truly happens to Panny, which she mentions in her foreword at the beginning of the play in her short monologue.
Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
This is the day that Panny sets the story straight about what happened to her by The Man. In the monologue at the beginning of the play, she mentions how there are many theories of what happened to her created by others around her town, but this is the truth.
State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
We want to know what exactly happened to Panny and we find out by the end of the play that she was abducted by The Man and beaten almost to death. We also want to know the explanation for why Panny, Isabel, and Lefty all live together and we find out that Isabel is a bit insane and Lefty felt he needed to stay to take care of Panny. We want to know what happens between Hugo and Panny and we find out when they finally meet, Hugo laughs and leaves her but comes around at the end of the play. Lastly, we want to know what happens between Lefty and Evvie. They seem to love each other but Lefty cannot bring himself to leave Panny because he feels a duty to take care of her and her mother (his sister), Isabel because she is crazy.
Use Panny, Isabelle, or Lefty to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Trifles the wants of Ms. Hale change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles for one of the three designated characters..
I chose to analyze Lefty’s struggles throughout the play. First, he has a struggle with himself because he wants to move in with Evvie, but he knows he cannot leave Panny with her crazy mother. This also is connected with his struggle with Evvie who quickly shoots down the idea of having Panny move in with them. She explains to Lefty that she has already been through raising children, and all the stress it brings, that she just didn’t want to have to do it again. He also struggles with Isabel, who is his crazy sister, because she doesn’t want anything to change. She just wants Lefty to stay with her and Panny forever, but Lefty wants to go and have a relationship with Evvie and start living for himself. It is hard to find an obvious struggle for Lefty against society because it is never explicitly illustrated throughout the play, though we can assume he faces some sort of underlying discrimination because he is Asian-American and part of a minority group in America. We do not really see any struggles against God or gods or natural forces.
The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. In your estimation what is the most theatrical moment in BFE and what happens during that moment which is so important to the outcome of the play?
I think one of the most theatrical moments is towards the end of the play when we finally find out what happened to Panny, after she lies and finally comes to terms with what happened to her. We find out she was beaten almost to death. I would also say some of the scenes where we see how crazy Isabel is are pretty dramatic and explain Panny’s home life a little more. She imagines things a lot and never goes outside. She will take in strangers (such as the pizza boy) and seduce them. Lastly, the scene where Evvie and Lefty decide to move in together is another dramatic scene because we can just imagine how Panny’s life would change if she no longer had her uncle to help her and protect her. Eventually, the conversation between Evvie and Lefty stops at a standstill when Evvie mentions she doesn’t want Panny to move in with Lefty because she doesn’t want to go through raising another kid.
Provide at least three examples of images in BFE. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
One image would be Lefty’s miniatures. This is the object that can represent his romance with Evvie because it was a conversation starter and transformed their relationship from friendship to a more romantic one. Another image would be the gauze and sunglasses Panny places over her eyes at the end of the play to illustrate how she went through with her eye surgery because she felt so ugly after her abduction. Going along with this, the scar on her body that reads “UGLY” could be another image that shows the abuse and disgusting discrimination Panny endured through the play. She feels so ugly and that she needs to go through with this absurd surgery at the young age of only 14.
Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in BFE.
Some themes include abduction, discrimination, self-confidence (or rather, lack thereof), abuse, family, and the struggle of inner versus outer beauty.
Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with BFE? Is family redefined in BFE and if so, in what ways?
This family is certainly unusual. Lefty is Panny’s uncle (her mother’s brother), though he thinks of himself as her father and cares and supports her as such. Panny’s mother is too crazy to be a stable mother. She even forgets her own daughter’s birthday and believes a proper gift for a 14-year-old girl is plastic surgery. Panny and Lefty have a close relationship, but he gets side-tracked with Evvie, his love interest, and his neglect in attention to Panny is one factor that leads her to be abducted. Isabel is a terrible mother, but we gather information to assume there’s some kind of mental issue to explain why she cannot properly care for her daughter. In today’s society, I do not know if crazy mothers are very common but I think there are many families where the closest thing children have to a father figure are their uncles. I do not find this aspect as unusual, but fairly realistic.